ENDGAME
by Proxii Bleu
Summary: While visiting Kaylee's family River and Mal are captured by the Alliance - FINALLY UPDATED!
1. The Game Begins

Title: End Game Part I  
  
Author: Proxii Bleu  
  
Summary: While visiting Kaylee's family, River and Mal are captured by the Alliance.  
  
Spoliers: Season One - Fics 'Fragile' & 'Increscunt Animi'  
  
Author's Note: This is a 2-part fic, so there will be a BIG cliffhanger at the end :) Also, I promise that this one won't have a sucky ending like my first big fic Fragile, and I decided to post this early because 'Increscunt Animi" is almost done, so I wanted everyone to have something new to read :)  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, just write about 'em  
  
End Game by Proxii Bleu  
  
I  
  
"I need purpose." Mal, Simon, and Inara looked up from what they were doing, and over at River who was staring pointedly at all three of them. It was late in the afternoon, the crew relaxing in the sitting room after having spent the rest of the week including that morning making hauls to different clients in just about every port there was between Helios and Aurora. For once Mal had been able to have five days of hard work, and no nosense.  
  
In as many years as he could count, he hadn't had to put up with Alliance checkpoint guards who acted as if they were the most superior beings in the 'verse, clients who tried to wriggle out of paying for the delivery of their goods, or any bull from Jayne who was usually dependable when it came to making trouble.  
  
At most, he had just gotten stone drunk, and passed out five feet from the loading ramp of Serenity when he'd finally decided to stagger home for the night at six in the morning. Inara who had been out enetertaining a client found him retching in the bushes when she returned to spend the day resting in her shuttle, and drop off a small volume of poetry she had borrowed from Book. On the upside, whenever he had a bad hangover, Mal could count on Jayne to be on his best behavior for at least a week.  
  
It was a rare day when Malcolm Reynolds had a win-win situation on his hands.   
  
Even River had helped with their runs. Normally she was kept on Serenity as far away from the public eye as possible, but she had managed to slip away undetected until she returned with with a nervous man in tow who was looking for a quick transport to Aurora. His name had been J.R. Tooms, and was an Alliance certified chemist. He had been working as a lab technician out on Fritsel, his job dependent on the location of the facility where he was needed. The doctor who had orignally worked in the town of Gaijong had moved to Aurora, and requested that Tooms join him given the quality of his work.  
  
The only downside was that Alliance transports weren't that common out in the territories, and with the chemicals he had on him it would be only a matter of time before thugs from one of the thousands of drug rings that existed in the known 'verse took advantage of lack of immediate protection. Fortunately, he had run into River who just happened to be enjoying her first cream swirl in the little restaurant where he had been having breakfast.  
  
Somehow the two got to talking about chemicals, and before he knew it she was leading him to Serenity. Before arriving there, she had managed to talk him into parting with some of his chemicals in payment for transport to Aurora. Simon needed to restock his drug supply in medbay, but out in the border worlds high quality antibiotics, painkillers, and other therapeutic substances were hard to come by. But Simon had degrees in advanced chemistry, which meant that with the right supplies, and equipment he could make his own.  
  
Firt of all, she had to convince Mal of this fact.  
  
The captain remembered watching her as she came walking out of the desert on Fritsel, her long green dress, and matching sweater slightly dusty from having to walk next to the ancient horse that the lab tech used to haul around his precious drugs. Wash had taken one look at the girl and her companion, and knew that whatever she was up to Mal probably wasn't going to like it.  
  
He was right.  
  
"River where have you been?"  
  
"Finding you another client."  
  
"Huh?" Mal couldn't believe his ears at the time, but there she stood with her delicate jaw set, and her eyes defiant. If she had been Zoe her hands would have been on her hips, but River preferred to cross them over her chest.  
  
"I found you a client. He wants to go to Aurora."  
  
"How much is he paying?"  
  
"It's in trade." Simon who had been worried about River since she vanished had made his way down the ramp, and had started peering into the cart behind the horse. Immediately his eyes spotted the chemicals, and soon realized what his little sister was up to.  
  
"We don't do trade."  
  
"Yes we do."  
  
"No we don't."  
  
"Yes we do." said Simon as he opened one of the containers. Inside were over three dozen vials of liadamine. Mixed with nicase it made Zocaine, a highly effective antibiotic. Here was a proverbial gold mine.  
  
"Excuse me?" Mal had just stared pointedly at Simon as he walked over to where Tooms stood.  
  
"Umm the captain of the ship is a little leery about working in trade, most time-"  
  
"The clients don't pay." said Tooms. "Well I agreed with your sister to trade some of my surplus for safe passage. I'm sure as a doctor, a 'real' doctor, you are already capable of combining these chemicals in order to manufacture the drugs you need Dr. Simms." Simon had at first frowned at the name, and then nodded.  
  
"It would make a difference." He had then turned to look at Mal. "With these chemicals I can fully restock my lab. Unless the next time one of us is shot you just want me to let Book give last rites?" Mal looked at the crates, then at the Tam siblings, and finally at Dr. Tooms.  
  
"Trade huh?" The lab tech nodded.  
  
"Throw in any spare equipment you have so he can do this right, and you've got yourself a deal."  
  
"Done." Simon and Tooms had headed onto Serenity, while River stood staring at the dirt as if there was something in it that only she could see. Mal on the other hand could care less if the ground beneath her feet suddenly came alive. Going out into town by herself was stupid for one, but meddling in the business affairs of Serenity was just plain idiocy.  
  
"What was that all about? Last I checked I did all the negotiating for clients."  
  
"You do, but Simon needed the drugs. Would you really want to die?"  
  
"No, but River unless you've forgotten, you're a fugitive right now."  
  
"I'm also a person, I am tired of-"  
  
"Tired of what?"  
  
"Not having purpose. Everyone on this ship has purpose. Book is a Shepard, Simon is a doctor, Inara is a Companion. Everyone has purpose, the Alliance stole mine at the academy, I want it back!" Mal watched as she stalked into the cargo bay.  
  
"I just want pupose." That was the first time River had said that, and now she was saying it again. Mal stared at her as she toyed with her pastels from her art box, her brow furrowed as she thought. He understood what she was saying. Everyone on the ship had some kind of job, while the only thing expected of her was to take care of Hairball, and stay out of the way.  
  
The fact that she was still prone to having 'bad days' hadn't inclined Mal to give her anymore responsibility outside of that, but her recruiting Tooms as a client was a sign that she was craving something more to do with her life. He couldn't blame her. She had been raised in the Alliance where the whole world had been at her fingertips, and after the Academy all of that had been ripped away. As her mental health improved, it wasn't surprising that she would want to start reclaiming her life.  
  
"Well River if you want purpose, then you have to find something that you want to do, and have a good time at doing." River turned her gaze at Mal, and studied him closely. Somehow along the way he'd figured out that she she did that she was scanning a person, but he already knew that she couldn't read his mind. Just sense his emotions. He had a suspicion on why she was unable to truly see through him, but that was something best bought up at a later time. The last thing he needed was Simon poking and prodding him in the name of science.  
  
"Finding a job is rather difficult. My options are limited." Inara who had been napping on the far couch, opened her eyes, and looked at the girl. Normally she would have continued feigning sleep, but the conversation had piqued her interest.  
  
"Why not try looking through the Cortex? See if there is something there that you would like to try?"  
  
"I have already consulted the oracle, it hasn't spoken to me." Inara looked over at Mal. Given his ability to sometimes figure out what River was saying, he was now the unofficial guide to River's code-talk.  
  
"She said been there done that." Simon who was carefully mixing chemicals in order to produce the painkillers that he was low on looked over at his sister who was still frowning.  
  
"If you want something to do, you could always-"  
  
"I don't like your profession Simon, it's filled with things that bite and cut."  
  
"Not all doctors are evil River."  
  
"No, just what they do." Simon sighed and dropped the subject before it got out of hand. The last time he had tried to argue the finer points of medicine with his sister, she'd thrown her cereal at him, and accused him of approving of what the Alliance doctors had done to her. Obviously it was another line of conversation that probably wouldn't be safe to broach with her until her recovery was a little further along.  
  
"Well there is always something to do," said Inara as she stretched out of the soft cushions. "Eventually you will find whatever it is that will make you happy and give you purpose River, you just have to keep looking. Maybe you could be an artist?" River looked down at her pastels, and shook her head.  
  
"To make my hobby my passion would only turn it into a prison."   
  
"Well I guess you'll have to keep looking." said Mal. Flicking back on the screen of his flexi, Reynolds wen't back to reading the downloads of the latest news off the Cortex when Kaylee came bounding into the room. Earlier in the day the crew had picked up their mail from Gray Station. For many of them it had been the usual. Bills and a few death threats for Mal, flyers for upcoming retreats for Book, presents from some of her clients for Inara, parenting zines for Zoe and Wash, letter from his family for Jayne, nothing for Simon and River, and Kaylee had gotten a box from her family.  
  
The container was long gone, it had contained cookies, and the ship's mechanic had left them in mess for everyone to share, but in her hand was a letter that was currently being strangled in the grip of her left hand. From the look in her eyes Mal guessed that it was either a birth, marriage, or both.  
  
For once he was going to be surprised.  
  
"Mal remember when you said that the crew could pick a place to go for shore leave next week."  
  
"Those were my words."  
  
"Well how about going to Carousel?" Mal arched his eyebrows. If memory served correct, that was where Kaylee was from.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Well I wrote my Momma about two weeks ago and asked her if we had shore leave if the whole crew could come, and well Momma usually doesn't like guests in the spring because it's when we have our big family dinner for solstice, but Aunt Marylin read the letter and she and Momma got in a big discussion about how you've been taking care of me and all and making sure I'm safe out here, and when Aunt Marylin says something Momma usually goes along because she's older and actually is in charge of the family which is why Uncle Paul-" Mal cut Kaylee off before everyone ended up hearing about the infamous Uncle Paul / Aunt Marylin feud which had been going on since the two were babes in their mother's arms.   
  
Long story short, Marylin Lee Frye was the oldest of all the Frye children, and hence was the matriarch of the clan. Her sister Hannah who was Kaylee's mother married Paul's brother Carl much to Marylin's chagirn, mainly because his brother Paul had been her nemesis ever since the day when they were five and he'd rubbed roofing pitch in her braids as a joke. Well the only way to get the stuff out was to literally cut the poor girl bald, and as a result Marylin had hated Paul since.  
  
After Kaylee's father died, as per family tradition that had been in place since the very first Lee Frye all of Carl's children had been listed under his wife's maiden name, and Paul accused Marylin of trying to steal his blood as revenge for the whole pitch incident which had happened over fifty some odd years ago. As far as Mal was concerned being a neutral party in the whole affair, it was pure nonsense. It wasn't as if Paul had double-crossed Marylin, or tried to kill her, but it wasn't his family.   
  
"Kaylee, as much as I'm sure the rest of us are all interested in your Uncle Paul, would you please get to the point?"  
  
"Well Momma said that you're all welcome to spend shore leave with the family, even though it's spring solstice."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"So can we go?" Mal scratched the back of his neck. On the one hand he 'had' said yes to allowing the crew to pick a shore leave spot, but on the other depite what many thought Mal really wasn't all that comfortable around crowds. Kaylee's family was basically a tribe, and when he had first hired Kaylee on as a mechanic a small herd of them had been present to see her off.  
  
He didn't know how he'd handle the whole lot, but he had given his word -  
  
"Okay, we can go." Kaylee let out a happy whoop, and ran out into the hall to tell everyone. Simon and River watched her go with identical expressions on their faces. The two siblings looked at each other, and then at Mal.  
  
"Why do I get the feeling that Kaylee is holding a magnifuing glass, and I'm the bug under the lens?" asked Simon. Mal shrugged.  
  
"At least she hasn't pulled your wings off."  
  
"Yet." said River ominously. 


	2. Red Queen and Black King

End Game by Proxii Bleu  
  
II  
  
Carousel, despite it's being a border world, was a beautiful planet located in the heart of the territores. From space it was a large blue orb covered with vast oceans, lush green forests, and possessing a temperate climate year-round. Those very conditions made it absolutely ideal for farming, and other forms of agriculture. It was the ancestral home of the Lee Frye family, and had been their home for over thirty generations of the large clan.  
  
Wash sat behind the controls in the cockpit, carefully entering the atmosphere in order to ensure that they had as smooth a landing as possible. Next to him Zoe stood watching as her husband bought them through the heavy layer of gases that enveloped Carousel, and made his approach to their designated landing pad. At four months, Zoe was already huge, her frame adopting an odd waddle as a result of the added weight, but to Wash she was still beautiful despite her growing size.  
  
Personally, that was one sentiment Zoe didn't exaclty agree with.  
  
As if sensing her throughts, Wash broke the silence between them. He had performed so many landings, the he could do them with his eyes closed, well he had, but Mal had hit the ceiling the last time he had pulled a stunt like that. At any rate that wasn't the most important thing on his mind at the moment.  
  
"You're brooding again."  
  
"No I'm not."  
  
"Yeah you are. Whenever you wrinkle your forehead like that, and set your jaw in that particular line, it means that you're brooding."  
  
"I'm not brooding, just thinking."  
  
"No honey, thinking causes you to smile." Zoe looked down at Wash, and then at the far wall. When Wash had set his mind on something, it wasn't easy to change his train of thought. That alone was the reason why she had married him. When the pilot had finally decided that he was in love with the first officer of Serenity, dire threats from Mal hadn't been enough to sway him from courting Zoe. Flowers, poems, and crawling through the conduits to get into her room at night had somehow been enough to wriggle through the chinks of her armor into her heart. However, little did Wash know he really didn't have to do much wriggling. She'd liked him from the moment she'd met him, even though at the time she hadn't really shown it.  
  
"Well I really am just thinking."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Our baby."  
  
"Oh. You want to name it yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not? We can't call it 'it' forever, although..."  
  
"No."  
  
"You didn't even hear me out."  
  
"We're not calling our child It."  
  
"Well how about-"  
  
"No planets, nebulas, inanimate objects, dinosaurs-"  
  
"HEY!"  
  
"Okay, fine it depends on the dinosaur, but really we have to decide what to call our baby when it's born."  
  
"Well what is it?"  
  
"Huh?" Zoe looked at Wash as if he had grown a second head. Turning away from the console, Wash headed out into the hallway with his wife in tow.  
  
"Is it a boy or a girl?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"What do you mean you don't know? I thought women knew what it was instantly."  
  
"Yes honey, as soon as I became pregnant I immediately knew what the sex of our child was. All it required was for me to perform a chant under the light of the moon, and sacrifice a small lamb."  
  
"You're being sarcastic."  
  
"I hadn't noticed." Wash stepped down into their quarters where the already packed bags were waiting. Zoe had put the finishing touches on their luggage last night, but Wash almost always found something else that he wanted to take along. This time it was his dinosaurs. Noticing the look on Zoe's face, he explained.  
  
"Someone might steal them." Zoe didn't say anything. "Anyway, we should decide what we should call it if it's a boy or a girl."  
  
"Sounds reasonable."  
  
"So, you think it's a good idea?"  
  
"What's a good idea?" Mal who had been walking by caught the end of the conversation, and peered into the open door of the room. Zoe was waving her hand in front of her neck as a sign for Wash to drop it, but he didn't catch the message.  
  
"We're trying to figure out a name for our baby." Zoe just put her face in her hands. Mal arched his eyebrows, and thought for a minute.  
  
"How about humped?" Wash glared at the captain.  
  
"Ha ha, but just so you know we've taken your name off the list." Mal smiled.  
  
"Well hey, just when I thought this day couldn't get better." Wash gave Mal a one-fingered salute that caused Zoe to snicker. Wash on the defensive was always a little funny somehow.  
  
"At any rate, most of the crew is off the ship except for River, Simon, and Inara. So if you see them tell them to get movin'."  
  
"Where are you going?" asked Zoe as Mal turned to leave.  
  
"I'm going to lock up Serenity, and do some double checking. Don't worry I'm going to come to Kaylee's little get-together, I just want to check on some things first." Mal and Zoe exchanged looks. There was something about Mal's explanation that didn't sit well with her, but neither pressed the issue mainly because of the fact that they were both itching to get off of Serenity.  
  
"Fine, but if we don't see you in thirty minutes sir, we're coming back here with a blowtorch."  
  
"Welcome to it." said Mal before striding off. Wash looked at Zoe for an explanation as he picked up their luggage, and headed out into the hall.  
  
"Why wouldn't Mal come to Lil' Kaylee's family dinner? I always thought she was his favorite around here?"  
  
"It's nothing about Kaylee, Mal just doesn't like crowds sometimes. Has something to do with when he was a kid, but he's never told me."  
  
"I thought Mal told you everything?"  
  
"There are some things the man keeps to himself Wash, and if you ask me those things are best left that way."  
  
***  
  
"River? Simon? Inara?" Mal walked through Serenity making sure that everything was turned off, and shut down properly before locking each section with it's specific security code. Hairball would be spending the week in the kitchen with his litterbox, and a vast supply of chow that would probably cause him to be fatter than he already was. However, from what Mal had seen his weight didn't stop the large cat from keeping the rat population under control. Only last night, Book had been presented with the rear-end of a large white and brown rodent that had gotten too close to the black puss.  
  
Gross, but oddly satisfying.  
  
Rounding a corner, Mal walked right into Simon who was already on his way to the cargo bay. The doctor was loaded down with bags, and had one more slung around his neck. Mal took in the sight before venturing a question. If he didn't, he wasn't sure he would be able to keep a straight face.  
  
"Um doc are you expecting a disaster I'm not aware of?" Simon shifted his awkward load. If anything the bags were as heavy as they were cumbersome.  
  
"I'm just taking precautions. I don't know what sort of medical facilities Carousel has, and given River's condition I don't want to take any chances."  
  
"Well from what Kaylee tells me her Aunt Marylin is a Healer." Simon smiled thinly. The crew knew what his opinion was of backwater Healers. He listed them under the same heading as fortunetellers, soothsayers, and gypsies. The only reason why Simon didn't call them quacks was due to the fact that just about everyone on Serenity, with the exception of Inara, Book, Mal, and himself had someone in their family who was a natural doctor. As a result he always stated rather neutrally that he preferred to put his faith in the more refined sciences.  
  
"That's...nice, but still I wouldn't want to be a burden on Kaylee's family since we're guests. I'll take care of my own." That was the first time Simon had ever ended a sentence with that particular phrase, and unlike his sister who occassionally used the crew's 'dialect' from him it sounded totally unnatural. Mal smiled, and stepped around the doctor.  
  
"Well you do what you think's best Simon, just make sure you don't rub these people too hard."  
  
"I'll try my best."  
  
"That's all I ask. Oh, one other thing."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Stick to the fancy talk." Mal left Simon in the hallway, moving out of the way of River who was carrying a small duffel bag filled with whatever she thought was neccessary for her to take along. She took one look at her overloaded brother, laughed, and continued on her way.  
  
"BRAT!" Yelled Simon as he trudged after her. Mal just watched them go before continuing with what he was doing. As he headed towards the cockpit he could smell the light perfume of incense which meant that for the time being Inara was still in her shuttle. Usually when they went planetside she was the first one to leave, but lately she had been staying closer and closer to Serenity. None of the crew knew exactly why, Inara's goal was, as she had stated in the past, to work towards retirement. Lately, the Companion was keeping rather close to home. It had started after her last client over a month ago, when she had come back to Serenity looking cautiously over her shoulder. Her long legs taking strides that in her opinion was supposed to be unbecoming to a woman unless warranted.  
  
As far as Mal could figure it must have been neccessary since not only had she literally crawled up the loading ramp, but when the crew got a good look at her the fine clothes she wore were barely on her, and soaked thouroughly with sweat. The man she had been entertaining had to catch up with Serenity almost a day later to fortunately return her purse, credit chip (which he had been kind enough not to steal or use), and her shoes since she had run all the way back to the salvage ship barefoot.   
  
When she had arrived that afternoon she had just collapsed on Mal. No insults, no protests, just holding on for dear life with her eyes wide, and a string of incoherent words tumbling out of her mouth. The captain had to take just one look at her to see that she was scared out of her mind, it took all he had just to hold on to her as she half-carried half-dragged him to her shuttle where she bolted into her bedroom, and took refuge in the corner. The only reason he could find for her sudden flight through the ship was seeing Jayne's shadow when he came from where he had been standing outside next to the mule, but Inara hadn't been willing to take any chances.  
  
Simon hadn't found anything physically wrong with her other than the fact that she was in shock from a bad scare, the source of which she was neither able or willing to share. River on the other hand had taken one look at her, and sad flatly:  
  
"She saw him in the town square from the bars of her window, his face burned into her memory like a brand."  
  
"Who? Her client?" Mal who didn't approve of Inara's profession, but really had no personal axe to grind with the woman had been interested to find out who had scared the hell out of her. River had just stared at Inara who was huddled against the wall.  
  
"No not her client, the man who causes her to weep at night." At this Inara had looked up, and River had turned her gaze to Mal. "I understand things very well Mal, I understand that there are some things that people like to keep to themselves. Secrets that they wrap around themselves like blankets to keep their minds warm. The man she saw from the square is not for me to tell. It is Inara's secret to keep her mind warm, but I can tell you she is safer here that anywhere in the universe."  
  
"Why's that? Who is this man?" Mal had not been willing to let it go. He had seen a lot of things in his life, and when a person had that look in their eyes it meant that whatever it was that had been at their back was the sum of all things that could strike fear into a man's heart. Mal usually tried to stay ready for such things, usually in the form of a gun, but River shook her head.  
  
"I can only say that she ran before he could make those bars real." With that she had shuffled off down the hall, her slight frame leaving behind more questions than answers. It had taken almost three days for Inara to calm down, and in that time she had nightmares that woke the entire crew due to the pitch of her screams. An incredible feat since River was usually the one who disturbed the quiet.  
  
Mal pushed these thoughts aside as he entered the open door of the Companion's shuttle, and looked around. Inara was nowhere to be seen, which meant that she was probably in her bedroom, and not in the small area that she used as a sitting area. Walking softly, Mal crept over her door, and peeked around the corner. Inara was sitting in front of her mirror, no makeup covering her face, only tears as she stared morosely at her reflection.   
  
White smoke from her incense sticks curled up into the air as she sat there, her shoulders shaking slightly with each sob. All around her on the floor were pictures scattered across the rug, many of them sported burns from where she had systematically taken one of the nearby incense sticks, and burned out the face of whoever else was in the photo. Mal cocked an eyebrow, and stepped back into a table. Inara heard the noise, and immediately straightened herself up in order to see who was in her shuttle.  
  
By the time she arrived at the door to her room, Mal was already picking up what was left of her vase off the floor, and trying without much success to fit the pieces back together. Inara just smiled sadly at the captain as he looked down as what was left of the blue porcelain in his hands.  
  
"I guess I'll be replacing this."  
  
"You'd never afford it." she said as she plucked it from his hands. "Why are you here? I've paid my rent for the next month - " Mal held up his hand.  
  
"I didn't come here for that, I just wanted to see if you were coming to Kaylee's family dinner. Or are you gonna spend all of shore leave cooped up here in the shuttle?" Inara looked at the shattered piece of glass, and dumped it into a wicker trashbin. Mal frowned, he always thought that was just for decoration.  
  
"I'm sure that Kaylee will understand."  
  
"Understand? Are we talking about the same Kay Winnit Lee Frye? She'll be crushed. You know she thinks highly of you."  
  
"She thinks highly of everyone." said Inara from the confines or her room. Mal trailed after her, only to be greeted by the sight of the Companion in the nude. Mal's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, as he temporarily forgot what he was talking about.  
  
"Ah..." Inara smiled, but for once it didn't reach her dark eyes. If Reynold's didn't know any better it looked like she was haunted, as if there was something inside of her keeping her held in bondage, but hell would probably freeze over before she said something. Finding the means to turn around, he studied the wall as she changed her clothes. On the floor he noticed was one of the pictures she had scattered about. Stooping, he quickly picked it up, and put it in his pocket. He would look at it later, but he had other matters to attend.  
  
"As I was saying Kaylee will be real upset, and besides," what Mal was about to do was very dirty. "Last month you came running back here as if the Devil was on your heels. I would think that a woman surrounded by a bunch of people who look out for their own would be safer, than sitting all by herself on a shuttle. Wouldn't you think?" Inara stopped pulling the ties on the shirt she was wearing, her face paling as she turned to look at Mal. That face was still present in her mind, and it wasn't likely to go away anytime soon. Swallowing thickly, she walked over to where the Captain stood, her eyes finding his as she tried to think.  
  
There were many things that the crew, namely Mal, didn't know about her. Things like where she was from, who was her family, and why she preferred to work out in the territories instead of the Alliance core worlds. Many of those topics were harmless, while others could expose the one secret that she held closer to her than anything else. The one that Simon's sister was already aware of, but had enough presence of mind to keep to herself because she knew what it could do to Inara should it get out. If Mal only knew that River wasn't the only one who had painted a target on his ship. Forcing a smile, she looked around the ship that served as both her office, and home.  
  
"I guess you have a point," she said thickly. "Give me a moment to pack some things." Mal walked over to the door of the shuttle, and waited as Inara grabbed one of her many overnight bags. Each was pre-packed, and filled with clothes for every situation and occassion. Since she was probably going to be wandering around on a farm, she chose the one that had some of her more sturdy garments, and joined Mal at the airlock.  
  
"Are we ready Captain?"  
  
"Ready as wel'll ever be." Mal waited as she locked her shuttle, her arm twining in his as they headed for the cargo bay. As they walked he couldn't help but notice that Inara's step was off just slightly. Not enough to be noticed by the casual observer, but by someone who had seen her enough tomes to know how she moved exactly. It took him a few minutes to figure out why, and when he did his determination to find out what was affecting the Companion resurfaced.  
  
Just under Inara's dress, carefully concealed was a small .38 handgun. 


	3. Red Queen To Black Pawn

End Game by Proxii Bleu  
  
III  
  
"The sky is smiling." Simon turned to his sister, and then looked up at the cloudless blue hue above them as he held on to the sides of the haycart that the crew was riding in. A neighbor of Kaylee's family had been kind enough to pick them up with their belongings, and drive them out to the farm saving them the cost of a transport. Book would not be joining the group due to the fact that he had decided to attend a revival being held by some local circuit rider in town, but Jayne who had been born and raised on a farm decided to tag along even though he had made it quite clear months ago that he wanted to go to some gun expo out on Beechwater.  
  
Mal figured that you couldn't take the farm out of a man, no more than you could take a fish out of water. Zoe and Inara were riding up front next to the driver, while Simon, Kaylee, River, Jayne, Wash, and Mal rode in the back. Even though it was early morning it was already hot out, the sun beating down on the group as the cart rolled through the dry outskirts of town, and finally through vast meadows filled with sweet grass. Mal took a hearty breath of air, and let out a satisfied sigh.  
  
"Ever smell air this fresh on Ariel?" asked Mal as Simon managed to pull River off the sides of the cart. Having been cooped up on Serenity for months with nothing to do except wander into the occassional market, or sit glumly on the loading ramp the girl's head was literally spinning in circles as she tried to take everything in at once.  
  
"Not really, most of the non-developed lands were outside of the cities, and I rarely had time to visit them anyway." Mal frowned.  
  
"You mean your family never took the time to vacation in the outdoors?" Simon smiled thinly.  
  
"It wasn't fashionable." River looked at her brother, and frowned. Her purple-head shaking as she tuned in to the conversation.  
  
"No, mother said that only pigs go out in the woods." Simon blushed, Wash raised his eyebrows, and Jayne just stared. River on the other hand went back to her sightseeing.  
  
"That so?" said Mal. He wasn't asking, it was more of a statement than anything else. There were some things that you didn't say because it wasn't polite, and then there were others that could cause a man to get tossed out of a hay cart. Simon coughed drily in order to clear his throat.   
  
"It wasn't our mother's exact opinion, she only adopted it after she married our father. I personally never thought there was much harm to enjoying nature, in fact I recommended a trip to the country for many of my patients who showed symptoms of prolonged stress."  
  
"Oh, what did your mother do before she married your father?" asked Kaylee trying to lighten the mood. For Simon at least it worked.  
  
"She was a teacher, in fact she used to teach out on Persephone even during the war. Later on after everything ended she went to Tai Station to see an old friend, and while she was there she met out father. She told me once when I was little that it was her passion, but she gave it up once she married."  
  
"Quit working once che landed a rich guy huh?" River turned to Jayne, her eyes stormy as she stared at the mercenary.  
  
"No, he made her give it up because it wasn't fashionable for a man of his position to have a wife who was a teacher. That's why she always said that she was a counselor instead because it was the only way to stop him from sucking the life out of her, and filling the shell with darkness. He should have been the one to get his brain chopped into bits." Simon just gaped at River, while Jayne merely shut his mouth. The entire wagon had adopted a rather dark atmosphere which was starting to upset Kaylee just a little bit.  
  
"Hey, we're on shore leave. We're not supposed to be talking about unhappy things right?" There were some mumbles of agreement.  
  
"Good! So who knows what a pig chase is?" Jayne and Mal's hands went up. Simon, River, and Wash looked around for an explanation.  
  
"Well," said Mal shifting into a better position. "It can be one of two things. The first is you get into the pen-"  
  
"The pig pen?" asked Simon meekly. Jayne just looked at him.  
  
"They don't keep 'em in the house."  
  
"You mind?" Everyone qieted down. "As I was saying you get into the pen, and you have someone grease up one of the piglets. Then you let it loose, and the first one to catch it wins."  
  
"Wins what?" queried River. To her the game sounded silly, especially if there was no reward. Mal sighed. One of these days he was going to end up on one of those most-wanted shows on the cortex, the subject of an intergalactic chase after strangling the life out of River and Simon Tam.  
  
"I don't know, whatever someone wants to set as a prize. When I was a kid, it was pie."  
  
"I like pie." said River.  
  
"Good for you. Now the second is where you get a hog-"  
  
"What's a hog?" asked Wash.  
  
"Captain, can I just shoot him?" asked Jayne.  
  
"No."  
  
"Just once?"  
  
"No! Again as I was saying, you get a hog which is an adult pig, namely one that's unruly, and you get someone to ride it, and whoever holds on the longest wins."  
  
"What do they win?" Both Jayne and Mal looked at River who was patiently waiting for an answer.  
  
"You said that for the first a person wins a piece of pie, or whatever is offered as the bounty. I'm assuming that there would be a better reward since the most common hog found in the territories is the brush hog which can bite a man's hand off." Simon turned visibly pale, his color almost nonexistent as they rode past a fenced area where some pigs were located. Mal pinched the bridge of his nose, and cursed at himself for not remembering to bring some aspirin.  
  
"Same rules as for the greased pig River."  
  
"Oh, well that's stupid." she said flatly. "If I'm going to have my hand bitten off, I'd want more than a pie." Wash sidled over to Simon, his blue eyes locked on the pen of pigs that was fading into the distance. There were times where Mal just wanted to grab River, and shake her like a rag doll.  
  
This was one of those times.  
  
"Look, no one is going to get their hands bitten off!" Yelled Mal. "That's an old wive's tale about brush hogs-"  
  
"My Uncle Jimmy got his hand bitten off by a brush hog," said Jayne. "Took it clean off. Ate it right in front of him, probably would have ate the other one if he hadn't shot it." Wash screamed, causing Zoe to turn around to see what was the matter.  
  
"I want to go home." said Simon.  
  
"Really?" said Mal. "Fine, driver stop right here." River and Simon watched as Mal nicely threw their luggage right out into the dusty road, before lowering the gate of the cart for them to get out.  
  
"Since you guys are so terrified of a little pig, you can get out right here, walk all the way back to Serenity, and spend shore leave trying to figure the security codes out to get back in."  
  
"1-1-3-1-5-1-6." said River flatly. "Come on Simon, lets go." Simon watched as his sister smartly hopped out of the cart, and retrieved her bag from the road, her arms crossed as she patiently waited for her brother. Grumbling, he gave in, and joined his sibling in the dust.  
  
"Thank you Mal, see you at dinner."  
  
"Not likely." yelled Mal as the cart started up again. Simon glared at River as she gathered his things, and set them in front of him.  
  
"You got us thrown out, now we have to walk all the way back to Serenity-"  
  
"No we don't silly. Kaylee said that her farm is just beyond the tree with the big crack in it from where the storm blew so hard, it tore it in half."  
  
"Your point?" grumbled Simon as he stared after the disappearing cart. His sister's pale arm appeared, her index finger extended towards a large tree that was seperated almost right down the middle as if something had taken it by either one of it's large branches, and tore it almost in half. Smiling, she headed towards a small trail that ran through the trees.  
  
"Come on, they're waiting for us." Shaking his head, Simon looked back at the cart, and then stooped to pick up his things. One of these days he was going to give River a piece of his mind.  
  
"You already have." she called.  
  
"Knock it off!" He yelled before trudging after her. "Or I'll think about scary things."  
  
"Bully!"  
  
"Brat!"  
  
"Pest!"  
  
Simon marched into the woods, his back turned to the clump of trees across the road. If he had looked behind him he probably would have noticed the lenses reflecting the hot spring sunlight, or the pair of blue hands that held them.  
  
***  
  
"You threw them out into the street!" Mal rubbed his aching temples as Zoe yelled at him. For the past hour or so his first officer had been letting him have it for tossing the siblings out of the cart, and frankly with the pain he was in he really didn't want to hear it anymore. Ever since he had left Serenity, he had a feeling like something was pushing at the back of his mind, but as time went on it progressed into a mother of a migrane. Closing his eyes against the bright sunlight, he tried to tune Zoe out.  
  
"Do you realize what you've done?"  
  
"Yes, and please shut the hell up." Wash's jaw dropped, Never had he heard Mal talk to Zoe like that, yes he could see that there was something wrong with the captain, but on the other hand-  
  
"Why don't you try making her?" Mal opened his eyes and looked at Wash. The younger man was glaring at him through two narrowed slits for eyes, and his hands were balled into fists. Sighing, Mal sank down in the cart.  
  
"Wash put those away. Zoe, I'm sorry, it's just that I have a headache, and I wasn't in the mood for Simon all right?"  
  
"Well if you hadn't thrown him out the cart, you wouldn't have a headache."   
  
"Can I still hit him?" asked Wash.  
  
"No, put 'em away." Wash unballed his fists, and scratched the back of his neck. For some reason he kept feeling as if someone was watching him, given Kaylee's sudden apprehension he knew that she felt it too. It couldn't be River, she never caused that feeling, but whatever it was it wasn't good.  
  
Shaking his head, he settled down in the bottom of the cart, and tried to get some sleep. It would be another hour before they reached Kaylee's family, and the hot spring sun was making him tired. For some reason he couldn't help but to think about pie.  
  
***  
  
"River where are we going?" Simon had been following behind River for almost an hour, his arms ached from carrying his luggage, and he was thirsty from the heat. All around him the warm sunlight filtered through the trees in long shafts of yellow light, he could smell the scent of rising pitch from the terraforming pines, and the soft perfume of warm sap as the baby leaves popped out of their buds. His sister stopped what she was doing, and then went down a fork in the trail.  
  
"The other way goes in a circle." she called as Simon looked at the division in the path. She could be right, it wasn't as heavily traveled as the one River was on, and it was more heavily shaded than the other. Grumbling he took up after his sister. Up ahead he could see a clearing at the side of the path, and River's things dumped in it. Letting his own luggage crash to the ground, he looked about for his sister, but she was gone.  
  
Opening his mouth to call fer her, he stopped when he heard a giggle, and then a loud splash. Walking towards the direction of the sound, he strode over to the crest of the hill, and looked down the incline. Someone had built a dock out to the middle of a large creek, on the gray wooden planks was a pair of shoes, and in the water was River who was splashing about happily. Simon watched her for a minute, before he came over to join her.  
  
"Come in, the water is like melting snow!" Simon dipped in a cautious finger, only to be hauled in by his sister. River laughed as Simon floundered about in the water.  
  
"RIVER!" Simon stood in the middle of the creek soaked to the skin, while his sister laughed at the look on his face. Sputtering he hauled himself back onto the dock, where a pair of ankles greeted him. Startled the looked up into the face of a young boy who had a rod in one hand, and a silver pail in the other.  
  
"You're not supposed to swim with your clothes on." Simon stood up on the dock, and feigned an explanation.  
  
"My sister dunked me." The boy looked at River, and then at Simon.  
  
"She dunked you?" The boy's lips curled into a smirk. "Which one's the sister?" Simon just stood there while River laughed from her spot in the creek. Climbing up out of the water she stood there dripping, purple strands plastered to her head as she warmed herself in the hot sun.  
  
"We were trying to find Kaylee's farm, but we were tossed out of a hay cart." The boy set down his pail, and looked at the two strangers. It was pretty obvious that they weren't from around there, and to his knowledge there was only one Kaylee that they could be talking about. But a boy could never be sure.  
  
"Kaylee who?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
"Kaylee Frye, she's the mechanic on our ship, she invited us to eat with her family." explained River as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "You already know who she is, why not just take us there?" The boy jumped a little, and looked at River closely. He took in her pale eyes, thin frame, and slight build. She looked like a-  
  
"You're a reader." River shrugged.  
  
"I suppose you can call it that, just so long as it's not 'witch'. Poles are very uncomfortable." The boy looked at Simon who had been trying to signal River to stop talking, but she either didn't get it or was ignoring him.  
  
"You wouldn't happen to be that doctor with the fancy words?" Simon frowned a little.  
  
"Maybe?" The boy's face brightened. "Aw, now I know who you are. Marylin said you were coming today." The boy picked up his fishing pole. "Come on, the farm's just a little ways through the trees."  
  
Simon and River followed the boy as he picked up the trail that they had been on, and started walking at a quick pace to wherever he was headed. Gathering their luggage the two fell in step behind him.  
  
"How did you know River was a-?"  
  
"Reader?" answered the boy. "Oh we Frye's got a lot of them. My momma's one, and so is my aunt, and a couple of my cousins. The tall skinny ones always seem to have it, at least that's what my Uncle Paul always told me."  
  
"You're Kaylee's cousin?"  
  
"I'm her little brother, my name's Ben. What's yours?"  
  
"I'm Simon, and this is River." Ben nodded, and started down a stepp hill. Through the trees he could see a large house painted dark brown with a huge lawn stretched in front of it. Smoke curled up from the chimney, and through the woods the siblings could smell something good cooking in the building. After having walked so far, they were definitely hungry.  
  
"So how do you know about us?" asked River.   
  
"Kaylee writes letters, talking about Serenity, and stuff. She said there was a fancy doctor on board, but I didn't know your name till just now. My cousin Marcus bet me a whole piece of salt toffee that your name was Kyle, boy won't he be surprised." Simon laughed politely as they walked out of the woods, and across the lawn. A tall woman with long gray hair and a youthful face came out of the door, and onto the long porch as the three walked up to the house.  
  
"Hey Marylin, look who I found!"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"That doctor that Kaylee's always talking about, and he has a sister." Marylin Lee Frye came off of the porch, and met the group halfway. Ben kept going, but the older woman stayed behind. Her face looked as if she was about thirty, but her long gray hair swept back into a ponytail gave away her true age. She was dressed in a ankle length green dress, and a long white vest that was tied shut with a cord threaded through the button holes. Her blue eyes were sharp as she stared at the two, and her mouth set as she studied them.  
  
The boy was tired, wary, and curious all at the same time. She could tell that he had been through a lot in the past year, enough to leave him a little older and a little wiser than he had been before, but still naive to the ways of the 'verse. The girl on the other hand, Marylin drew a breath as she looked at River. It was as if she was looking into a mirror, one that refelcted everything there was to a person. Yet somewhere along the way the glass had become cracked. The shattered bits only just starting to form a whole image again.  
  
Stepping back, Marylin closed her inner eye, and smiled at the two. Simon merely frowned, while his sister stared at Kaylee's aunt with wonder. Her small mouth parted in surprise as she studied the older woman.  
  
"How did you do that?" she asked, eyes dancing with question. Marylin cocked an eyebrow. "Practice, if I have time I'll show you. Come on, I have a nice pot of stew on the stove."  
  
"Aren't you wondering about Kaylee?" asked Simon as he followed the older woman into the house. Marylin looked over her shoulder at him.  
  
"Oh no, but that captain should be worried when he gets here. I have a few words ready for him, throwing two children out to the wolves. I knew the minute I met him that man was trouble." Simon looked down at River for an explanation, but his sister was still in awe over the elder Frye.  
  
"How does she know that?" Marylin answered before River.  
  
"Because I'm a Reader honey, and as the local Healer it's my job to know things. Now come on, you can ask all them questions later. Right now you need to get to your rooms, you don't mind sharing do you? I already decided with Hannah to put River with Kaylee, and you with my son Marcus. He's the teacher in town, so you'll probably get along real well."  
  
"You're a Reader?" asked Simon as he followed her up a flight of stairs.   
  
"That's what I said, I'll tell you all about it at breakfast tomorrow." Marylin stopped in front of a pair of doors that were right across from each other. The one on the right led into a room that was clearly for River and Kaylee, while Simon's was filled with books and other whatnots. Kaylee's aunt watched as the two got acquainted with their surroundings, before breaking the silence.  
  
"Put your things away, we have running water so I want you to take a bath before coming downstairs to eat. I check hands, so make sure the only thing I see under your fingernails is skin. If you need me just call." Downstairs the sound of barking dogs, and some happy shouts from Kaylee's other relatives drifted up the stairs. Marylin cocked her head to the side, and then headed down.   
  
"Remember what I said now."  
  
***  
  
"Wow." Wash looked at the large house that had been the Frye home for years. It was a huge structure that had been added onto over time, and was a beautiful construction surrounded by wildflowers, and vegetable gardens. Out of the front door came Marylin, her jaw set as she stalked down the stairs to greet the haycart. The driver helped Inara and Zoe down, while the rest of the crew spilled out the back.  
  
Stretching his legs, Mal walked over to Marylin who stood tapping her foot against the gravel in the path that led to the front porch. Smiling, he put on his best manners as he approached the older woman.  
  
"Well hello Marylin, long time no see."  
  
"Hello Mal." Mal yelped as the woman swatted him acros the arm as hard as she could. Taking a few steps back. the captain looked at her as if she had lost her mind. He knew Kaylee's aunt wasn't fond of him, but he didn't know things were that bad.  
  
"What the hell was that for?" Marylin planted both hands on her hips, and glared at Reynolds.  
  
"Malcolm Leigh Reynolds you actually have the nerve to ask? I come out here on my back porch and see my youngest nephew come walking up with two children covered in dust from the road after you threw them out of that cart there."   
  
"Wait, I-"  
  
"Speak, and sleep with the pigs. Now while you're under my roof, I expect you to act like an adult, and so help me you cut up one more time you won't be the first grown man who's backside I've tendered!" Mal watched her stalk back up to the house, muttering all the way. Jayne came over to where Mal stood, his face unreadable as he stood next to the captain.  
  
"Leigh?"  
  
"Shut up Jayne." 


	4. Black Knight Capture Red King

End Game by Proxii Bleu  
  
IV  
  
"Good morning." Simon Tam slowly opened his eyes, and looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings. He could tell just by the intensity of the soft yellow light filtering through the white muslin curtains on the window that it was about four hours after sunrise, but the events of the previous night were a mystery to him.   
  
The last thing he remembered was finishing his shower, and then going downstairs to have some stew with River. The rest of the crew had arrived by then, and he recalled hearing Wash chide Mal about being yelled at by Marylin - that had been right after he had finished eating his last bowl. Another woman had come in shortly after that, Kaylee's mother, and asked him if he wanted some more to eat. He'd said yes, but after that his memory was a blank.  
  
Stretching out, he looked around for whoever had welcomed him to the new day. In the corner of the room sat Marylin herself. Her long fingers skillfully knitting a sweater as she waited for the younger man to wake up. Cautiously, Simon sat up. He was dressed in a pair of soft white pajamas, the warmth beneath him the result of a heating pad that must have already been in the bed.   
  
"How did you sleep?"  
  
"Um, good. How did I get here?"  
  
"You fell asleep at the table right after my sister asked you if you wanted more to eat. I must say, outside of my boys, you're the first guest I've had eat that much of my stew. Do you get enough on Serenity?"  
  
"Yes, I guess I was hungrier than I thought." Simon climbed out of bed. A fresh change of clothes were on the chair next to bed, along with a tall glass of water on the nightstand. Marylin got up from her seat taking her yarn with her.  
  
"The rest are already outside having a look around the farm, so I only have you and your sister left to feed."  
  
"Where's Kaylee?"  
  
"Kaylee? She was up before the chickens, she's off with her brothers in the river. I don't think she'll be back 'til afternoon. Come downstairs, I want to talk to you anyway." With that the older woman left, Simon standing there wondering about the dynamics of territory families. When she was younger, Lily Tam used to be just like Marylin with her children. She would sing songs, and tell jokes all for the benefit of her little ones.  
  
But over the years after being married to her husband the light in her began to die until the point when she would mainly just sit by one of the windows of their house, and sip wine all day. Her green eyes almost glazed over as she kept to her thoughts, the only time she spoke was to inform Robert that someone important had called, and that his children had excelled once again.   
  
Now that he was older, and had a little more insight into the character of his father Simon supposed her change in demeanor was due to the unreasonable demands for perfection from the man. He drove her and her children to the breaking point, which was why River probably agreed to go the the Academy anyway, even if she had picked up on some sort of danger. It wasn't a strange thought, Simon had left home as soon as possible as well.  
  
Shaking his head, he pushed the unpleasant memories aside, and went downstairs. River was already sitting at the table dressed in an unfamiliar pair of pants, and sleeveless black top with pockets on the front. She was staring at her plate as if her food was alive, her fork poised above it ready to strike at any moment.   
  
Looking over her shoulder, Simon noticed that she had poached eggs, and realised the situation. River had never liked her eggs cooked like that, her reason was that she never liked things that looked back at her when she was about to eat them. Keeping out of the range of her fork, Simon took her plate, and went over to the sink. She didn't like poached eggs, but he did.  
  
Scraping them into a fresh dish, he set about scrambling some for her. Marylin reappeared through the door off the kitchen, and looked at Simon who was standing next to the stove trying to see if it was warm. The Frye's had some modern convieniences as a result of a self-contained generator on the property, but everything else was done the old-fashioned way. Grumbling, the doctor wondered if he would have to take his sister into town for breakfast.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Marylin as she joined Simon by the stove. "You don't like the way the eggs are cooked?"  
  
"No, I'm just scrambling some." Marylin arched her eyebrows, her long arms folding over her chest as she stared at Tam.  
  
"If you want me to do something fancy to them, all you have to do is ask."  
  
"Really?" Simon could never really tell when he was rubbing someone the wrong way. Privately River supposed it was due to the fact that he'd lived his entire life in a society that was goverened by a set standard of personal and social conduct.   
  
Plus he was a boob.  
  
"Well actually it's for River, she likes her eggs scrambled." He picked up the plate with her original breakfast on it. "These are fine for me." Marylin shook her head. Reading was a skill that was taxing on the senses, as a result most of the time she went on visual cues. River sensed this, and spoke up.  
  
"They look at me." she said matter-of-factly. Marylin looked over at the girl, and then back at her brother. Shooing him out of the way, she broke two more into a bowl, and set to scrambling them.  
  
"Go sit down at the table. There's sausage in that covered dish." Helping himself to the meat, he neatly folded his napkin into his lap, and started in on his meal.  
  
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" River smiled as a clump of freshly scrambled eggs appeared in front of her. Done, Marylin sat down at the head of her table, and watched the pair. Barring her reasons for such insight, outside of her natural gifts, she could tell what was the cause of River's disjointed speech that she employed. After years of careful study she knew how to protect such secrets from others within her mind, but the knowledge that was buried within her was why a pang of guilt surged through her as she looked at the girl.  
  
Cruelty of that level, would not have been possible if it had not been for her. It was the reason why even now she continued her work, to make a difference to those like River, but she knew that even until the day she died she would never feel as though it was enough. Turning her attentions away from such dark thoughts, she instead focused on Simon.  
  
"Yes, I was talking to River earlier, and she told me that she was seeking a purpose."  
  
"Ah yes. Um, my sister has been ill for sometime, and just recently started getting better, as a result she would like to have a job of sorts."  
  
"The only thing is that Mal already has everything scheduled out to everyone who doesn't act crazy?" Simon almost choked on his sausage. Marylin just smiled as he tried to compose himself. There was no way he was ever going to get used to being around a person like her, especially since there were things that he was trying to keep from coming to light.  
  
"Well Simon, there's nothing to be surprised about, I just wanted to know if it was all right with you if I showed her some of the finer points of being a Healer." River looked at Simon pleadingly. He could already tell that she had her heart set on it, and saying no might be more trouble than it was worth. What was the harm in it? It wasn't like it was real medicine. Marylin fought an urge to frown, while River just stared at her brother.  
  
"Don't be obtuse Simon, can I or can I not?" Simon shook his head. There was something bothering him about Kaylee's aunt, but it was a subject best broached when River wasn't around.  
  
"Sure, as long as you feel up to it." River gave out a squeal of delight, and hugged her brother tight.   
  
"I have to ge tell Kaylee!" With that she bounded out of the door leaving him alone with Marylin who was calmly sipping her tea. Her fingers locked around the handle of the cup in an iron grip.  
  
"How long was she with the Alliance?" Simon looked over at the older woman who was staring at him with a fixed gaze. One look into her blue eyes let him know that she expected nothing less than the truth.  
  
"Almost four years, I was only recently able to free her from some sort of lab that was contained within her school."  
  
"What was done to her, specifically?"  
  
"I'm not sure-"  
  
"Belive me Simon, I understand more than you give me credit for. Now tell me, what was done to her."  
  
"They stipped her amygdala for some reason I'm not sure of. Many of her problems since have been the result of trauma, but she's been getting better."  
  
"I know, I can tell that there has been some healing, but River is holding a part of herself back."  
  
"Excuse me?" Marylin set down her cup.  
  
"I'm saying Simon that as far as I can tell your sister is better, but she's stopping the last part of her recovery. All I can gather is that her reason for doing so is fear of losing control once she takes that final step, that is why I want to work with her." At this Simon balked.  
  
"I think my sister has been 'handled' enough thank you."  
  
"I'm not talking about handling her Simon, I am talking about teaching her simple skills that she can build onto what little control she already has. I think you already know that her condition isn't a disease. Just like a baby learns to walk, you sister has to control her mind. Do you really think I was born with the ability to read people?"  
  
"From what I understand, yes."  
  
"The ability is there, but the tools to use it aren't. I have taught almost every single Reader in this family how to control themselves since I was fourteen. Teaching is very different from handling." Simon looked down at his empty plate. He knew what she was saying, it was the same thing that he had heard from the mysterious Selma Ennes when she had been lying in his medbay after collapsing in her room. Marylin was right, River needed to learn control, but this was a subject that he had always believed to be nothing more than a tool employed by quacks who were out to earn an easy credit. He never believed that there really was such a thing as Readers, Seers, or the like, and now that he was faced with such a reality he was afraid to contfront it.  
  
Marylin sensed his unease, and took one of his hands lightly in hers. He wasn't the first man she had come across who had a fear of sensitive people. That fear was the driving force behind the group that had done such a grievous harm to his sister, but again it was a train of thought best left for another time. Looking at Simon, she smiled warmly as she sorted through him.   
  
The boy was an Intuitive, no where near the level of clarity found in Sensitives, Readers, or Seers like his sister, but capable nonetheless. It was most likely what enabled him to be such a good doctor, and why he had known that there was something wrong with his sister. His type always knew, before they saw.  
  
"Look, it isn't any different from any of your other senses. It is just the result of hyperactivity in the cerebral cortex of the brain, regulated by the amygdala." said Marylin. "It just takes a little more practice to use. Everyone has it, some more than others-" The older woman stopped, Simon was just staring at her. How could someone who professed to be a backwater Healer, know something like that? Marylin realized her mistake, and quickly covered.  
  
"Well in theory that's what it is, but you see it's not a disease." Simon smiled, his hands removing the soiled napkin from his lap. He didn't buy it, something had been triggered in his mind about Marylin, and it wasn't willing to let it go. However, he wasn't sure how sensitive Marylin was so he just supressed his feelings as he had done so many times in his life.   
  
"Well I've tried everything else so far, I don't see how this could hurt."  
  
"She'll be fine. You'll see." Marylin looked over at the window, namely the sun shining through it. "Now, it's a nice day outside so why don't you go be out in it?" Simon politely thanked her for breakfast, and went upstairs to freshen up before going outside. Left to her thoughts, Marylin picked up the plates from the table, and took them over to the sink. She had to be careful about Simon, like most Intuitives he had the innate ability to inspire ease in people around him. If she had her defenses up, he would have never been able to coax such a lapse in judgement out of her, but if she had done so his sister would have tried to dig deeper to see the cause of alarm in her, and that would have been a disaster.  
  
Leaning her head against the cabinet, she looked out the window over the sink, and frowned as she felt a pressure at the back of her head. The rest of her family wasn't there yet, so there was no reason for her to be feeling as if there was someone trying to scan her mind. She knew it wasn't Simon's sister, the sense was wrong. This was somebody trying to be sneaky, and underhanded. Raising her defenses she sighed as the feeling went away, but not the impression that there was something terribly wrong. In all of her years, Marylin Lee Frye had only felt that vibe three times, and each time it meant that there was a tragedy afoot.  
  
If she had listened to that feeling when she had worked for the Alliance, there would not be so much innocent blood on her hands. Eyeing the shotgun she kept by the door she wondered if she was prepared for whoever had been scanning her mind.  
  
Or what. 


	5. Red King Destroys Black Knight

End Game by Proxii Bleu  
  
V  
  
"That's a big hole." Mal, Jayne, Simon, Wash, and two of Kaylee's brothers stood staring up at one of the livestock barns examining a vast cavern that had formed in the middle of one side of the roof. While beautiful, Carousel was known for its violent storms, the barn was the most recent victim of the planet's Mercurial temper.  
  
According to Marcus who was Kaylee's cousin , about a month ago they had one of the biggest windstorms on record. Trees were blown down, homes were destroyed, but the most exciting part (at least from his point of view) was when Hank Combs - their neighbor - looked out the window of his house at his cattle who were huddled against each other to weather the storm, and saw one of his heifers get picked right up off the ground.  
  
Well not being able to do much about it, he'd gone back to bed, but just two miles over the Frye family (the part that lived on the old homestead where the crew was at) had been awakened in the middle of the night by a terrible crash that sounded like the whole sky had fallen down.  
  
Worried that one of the barns had blown away Marylin, Hannah, Kaylee's oldest brother John, and Marcus had gone out there to look and saw Hank's cow sticking up out of their barn roof. At this point in the tale Wash and Simon had started snickering until a look from Mal cut them off. If that hadn't been shocking enough, the poor cow had survived, and if no one believed him they could look right over there at the brown and white heifer who was sleeping under one of the nearby trees.  
  
One look at her would tell anyone with a brain that she was the cow in question. All along her left side was a huge scar from here she had been cut up by the shingles when she crashed through the roof, but they hadn't butchered her because Hannah who was superstitious believed that it was bad luck to slaughter a cow that had fallen out of the heavens. Normally Marylin would have ignored her, but Hannah had made such a stink about it that they let the cow alone to roam the pastures unharmed.  
  
Now, they had their very own lucky cow.  
  
The boys had already fixed the trusses, but they hadn't done the roof itself because their Uncle Paul refused to give Marylin the shingles due to the fact that his new wife Jennie wouldn't let him after learning that the family she had married into had Readers in it, and said that she wanted no part of helping Witches.   
  
"I know it's a big hole, but like I was tellin' ya Aunt Jennie won't let Uncle Paul give Marylin the shingles."  
  
"I thought Paul didn't like Marylin because Marylin doesn't like him for putting roofing pitch in her hair, so he thinks that to get revenge she made sure that Kaylee and her siblings have the family name, instead of his?" Everyone one turned to look at Simon who was sitting neatly on a fence rail.  
  
"And how do you know that?" asked Mal. Last time he checked, only the senior crew knew the whole Paul / Marylin saga. Simon just shrugged.  
  
"Kaylee told me the night before we arrived so that I would have a better understanding of her family relations."  
  
"Well last month they put that whole thing to rest," said Marcus. "But now Aunt Jennie is stirring it up again."  
  
"And she don't even believe in witches." That was Denny, the youngest of the three, and two years older than Ben. "My cousin Danica heard her say so, she just doesn't like Marylin because Marylin gets to have all the say-so."  
  
"That so?" asked Simon as he thought to himself. Wash, Mal, and Jayne looked at Simon who was frowning as he thought.  
  
"What's going on that head of yours Doc?"  
  
"Well," Simon got up from his seat. "I'm just remembering a phrase River taught me once. What you don't know can't hurt you. Paul already promised Marylin the shingles right?"  
  
"Yeah." said Marcus looking at his brothers.  
  
"Then it can't hurt really if Paul doesn't give them to her."  
  
"I think the sun's bakin' the Doc's brain." said Jayne. Mal shook his head. He had a feeling where Simon was going, and so did the boys.  
  
"Ah, you're saying we should collect what's already owned?" Simon smiled, and folded his arms neatly in front of him.  
  
"And Aunt Jennie doesn't have to know anything about it." Marcus clapped Simon on the back.  
  
"You know, I'm beginning to think you'll fit right in out here." Walking Simon over to a spot in the dust, the men began drawing up plans for collecting the shingles.  
  
***  
  
"Hello?" It was later in the afternoon, and River was feeling slightly bored. She had spent most of the morning playing with Kaylee and her other brothers, but after awhile the constrant noise began to get to her so she decided to go return to the quiet.  
  
Even thought it wasn't really quiet.  
  
Back around the buildings of the farm she could still hear mumuring, sense things that others couldn't, but it wasn't as overwhelming. Inside she had been slowly opening the last gate to her ocean, letting pieces slip in, but there were still things missing, Mainly the knowledge on how to make the noise stop like Marylin had, or only hear one voice.  
  
Wading through a patch of daisies she came over to the side of a long red building, and peered into the open door. What was this? Inside were grow lights, shelves filled with plants of different species, and all neatly labled with small cards. One look let her know that they were herbs, but their uses were a mystery to her. Stepping into the darkened structure, she looked around at the drying clusters of plants, and then stopped to look at a low bookshelf with a glass front.  
  
A tug told her that it was locked, but inside were dozens of books filled with secret knowledge. For a minute she considered picking the lock, until she turned around and saw more books in a shelf that wasn't guarded. Waking over, she plucked one off of it's resting place, and opened it. Inside were sheets of light blue paper, copies. The locked books were the originals.  
  
Sitting down on a nearby stool, River thumbed through the pages reading about the different uses of the plants growing in the neat little pots. Smiling she set down the volume, and chose another one. This one was about setting bones, another talked about common ailments, and the one she finally held was written about the healing properties of music. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice the figure standing in the doorway.  
  
"Do you think that could fulfill your purpose?" River shot out of her seat, as Marylin came walking into the room. Over her arm was an empty basket, her long fingers curling around the tome as she picked it up off the floor where River had dropped it. Putting it back, she set the basket down, and sat across from the girl who was pressed against the wall.  
  
"Don't worry, I don't bite - hard." River smiled a little, and watched as the woman looked at a list on her desk before rising to go back outside.  
  
"Are you coming?"  
  
"You want me to walk in your footsteps?"  
  
"Well you can't learn about being a Healer otherwise. Besides, I have more to teach you." Coming out of her corner, River followed behind Marylin who had slready started down a long trail that wound down into the woods. It was cooler in the shade of the pines than out in the open, but the two could still feel the heat as they went in search of the plants Marylin needed to replenish her stock.  
  
"So, yesterday you wanted to know how I create silence." River looked down at a small red-leafed vine curling next to her foot, and stooped to pluck it. Marylin's drawings were very detailed, and it looked like one that she called Cat's Blood. The older woman looked at the girl's find, and put it in her basket.  
  
"Good eye, but you didn't answer my question."  
  
"Silence evades me," said River picking her way over some roots. "It slips from my fingers whenever I find it." Marylin frowned as she listened. Most likely the girl's speech patterns had changed after they had gone in through her frontal lobe in order to reach her amygdala. Odds had it that it had been a mistake, a result of the technicians not doing their jobs properly. Shaking her head, she stooped to gather some more of the red vine.  
  
"It's not hard to find. Here, stand there, and tell me what you hear." River stood for a moment. She could hear muttering, many voices jumbled together into one. Some were Simon, others were Mal, but never could she catch just one.  
  
"I hear everything."  
  
"Good, now focus on everything fading away growing softer and softer until it is gone." River tried, at first the voices boomed, and then without realizing it the only thing she heard was her own mind, and the calls of the birds. Marylin smiled as she saw River grasp the concept.  
  
"It's so easy."  
  
"Many of the most difficult things are. Now try to keep the silence for a while, I want you to be sure of it, before I teach you how to seperate." River concentrated, the task not taking up much effort, but still requiring her to stay apprised of the actions of her mind. As they went Marylin explained how over time it would become second nature to her, but for now it required conscious effort to make it happen.  
  
"Is this Preacher's Eye?" River held up a small clump of fungi that was a pale white. its body was round, and grew in long spiraling tracts that swarmed all over the forest floor. Marylin examined it carefully, her eyes looking for a tell tale mark.  
  
"No, this is Judas' Silver. You can tell the difference between the two because Preacher's Eye has a soft sulfur smell, and has a large blue spot underneath. This smells like ammonia see?" River sniffed the mushroom, and made a face. Marylin still dumped it into her basket.  
  
"It's not good for eating, in fact it'll make you sick, but if you grind it up you can use it as an antibiotic to treat wounds so long as it's in a thick paste that's been heated first."  
  
"What happens if it's not?"  
  
"If its not heated the spores will take root in the wound, and grow out of it." River shrieked, and hopped up onto a nearby stump for safety. Marylin laughed, and motioned for her to get down.  
  
"It won't kill you if that happens, in fact it makes a prety thick scab, but for the person with the wound it can give them a bit of a turn."  
  
"A 'turn' is what a ship makes, I believe Simon would die of fright." Marylin opened her mouth to say something when she heard a ruckus through the trees.  
  
"What the hell is that?"  
  
***  
  
"This is a stupid idea," hissed Jayne as he crept through the bushes next to Mal. "There is no gorram way this is gonna work."  
  
"It's gonna work," growled Mal. "Just keep quiet, and remember what to do." For the past thirty minutes Mal, Jayne, Wash, Simon, Marcus, and Denny had been sneaking through the woods over to Paul's house which was just over the hill south of the homestead. Paul himself was in the field for the day with his older sons, while the rest were busy with various chores getting ready for the big family dinner.  
  
As a result the only person that would be standing between them, and the shingles was Jennie herself. The only thing they needed to do was have Wash and Marcus create a distraction while Jayne and Mal loaded the goods onto an AG cart that they were currently lying on, and sneaking through the bushes with. Denny was on lookout, and Simon was currently making his way over to the pig pen in case Wash and Marcus got caught in the chicken coop.  
  
"We're gonna get shot!" said Jayne emphatically. "You heard what that boy said 'bout that woman, she's got a rifle, and I ain't gettin shot over no gorram shingles."  
  
"The only person who's gonna shoot you Jayne is me if you don't shut the hell up! Now start moving your side towards that hole over there."  
  
"What hole?"  
  
"That hole that leads right down to the damn porch where the shingles are!" Jayne started moving his end, the two men creeping over the lawn like a large flat snake as they pulled themselves over to the stack still wrapped in it's burlap. Easing themselves off, Jayne and Mal started carefully loading the cart. Moving quickly, they were down to the last sack when Jayne accidentally kicked a small pail that he hadn't noticed.  
  
"Damnit!" Mal closed his eyes as the merc noisily kicked it off into the bushes. Inside the house a woman's shrill voice called out.  
  
"Paul is that you? You'd better not be messin' with them shingles!" Mal looked around the porch, and noticed a hoe leaning against the wall.  
  
"Uh, no Jennie, I just came back to get the hoe."  
  
"All right. You sound a little funny. You okay?"  
  
"Just fine, workin that's all."  
  
"I sent Mark up with a pail of cold milk for you and the boys, I'll be askin if you had some."  
  
"Don't worry I will." The two men let out a sigh of relief as they heard the woman retreat to some other part of the house, leaving them in the clear. Dumping the last sack on the cart, Mal grabbed an end, and started moving it back towards the trees. Now, having been a scavenger and part-time thief for so long, Mal knew that there were times when the best laid plans could go awry.  
  
This was one of those times.  
  
While the men were making their way back up the hill into the woods, Paul's son Mark had come back to the house with his empty pail of milk. Jennie who was inside cooking lunch, smiled at her son as he set down his empty container.  
  
"I'm going to have to send you back out with some more milk."  
  
"Why?" asked Mark as he watched her stir together the ingredients for some biscuits.  
  
"Because your father was just down here for the hoe, and seein how the pail is empty there won't be any milk for him when he gets back to the field." Mark frowned at his step-mother.  
  
"I don't know how, Papa was in the field with a hoe, and he already had some milk." Jennie dropped her bowl in the sink. Her black eyes narrowing as her angular form snapped around to look at the back door.  
  
"I KNEW IT!" Grabbing the rifle off of it's hook over the sink, she threw open the back door, and spotted Mal and Jayne heading into the woods.  
  
"Get back here you dirty thieves!"  
  
"Shit!" Mal and Jayne picked up the pace as a tree splintered into a thousand pieces over their heads. By the chicken coop Wash and Marcus heard the commotion and decided to get out of there before Jennie decided to use them for target practice. Speeding away from the birds, Marcus was already heading for the woods, but Wash had gotten caught by the fowl who had flown into a frenzy at the pair's sudden movmements, and like any scared chicken they started pecking anything they came across.  
  
Yelling Wash crashed straight through the gate of the coop, the whole thing flying apart as he ran for the trees. A hen holding on firmly to the back of his shirt cawing, pecking, and beating him with her wings for all she was worth. Jennie saw her coop fly to pieces, and from her angle it looked like Wash was escaping with her prize birds. Pumping more shells into the chamber, she took out three saplings as she tried to hit the pilot.  
  
"Get back here you son of a bitch!" she screamed. Gripping the gun, she took off after the three, murder in her eyes as she crashed through the brush.  
  
Now while this was going on, Simon had taken refuge next to the pig pen wondering when would be a good time for him to get out of there. He heard the shots, the nail-on-chalkboard screaming of Jennie, and now was wondering if his situation could get any worse. Running his hand through his hair, he looked over to his left and saw a pair of red eyes looking at him through the slats in the pig pen. Frowning he turned to get a better look at the hog, his blood running cold as he saw the spiky tufts of sharp black hair sticking up off of it's large body.  
  
Jennie Cook had a pen filled with brush pigs.  
  
Letting out a wild yell, Simon backed away just as the boar who didn't appreciate the doctor's intrusion exploded through the wood fence. Pawing the ground with it's sharp hooves, the hog shook it's tusks at the younger man, and charged.  
  
Screaming, Simon ran for the trees the pig hot on his heels as he cannoned into trees, fell down hills, and was occassionally sprayed by tree splinters as Jennie shot at his comrades. The boar in the meantime was unwilling to give up the chase, it's jaws snapping at thin air as it tried to catch the poor man.  
  
In the woods Marylin and River stood watching as Mal and Jayne came tearing down the trail, gunshots exploding behind them as Jennie continued to give chase. The two just watched them run by, along with Wash and the hen, Marcus, and finally Simon with the pig on his heels. All of which were followed by Jennie who was hastily trying to reload while giving pursuit.   
  
"HELP! ZOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Now while all of this had been going on, Zoe had been enjoying her pregnancy by lying on her back on the front porch, and napping in the shade of the afternoon sun. However, her quiet was broken by the sound of gunshots, and Wash bursting out of the woods with a chicken on his back. Inara who had been sitting in the porch swing reading took one look at the spectacle, and immediately wondered if she was hallucinating from the heat.  
  
Hefting herself up from her seat, Zoe watched as Wash danced around with the chicken on his back. Waiting for the right moment, she picked the bird off of him, and let it flap off into the bushes.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Wash didn't get to answer because at that moment Jayne and Mal came running, their hands slipping off the AG cart as they dashed for the side of the house with Marcus. A piece of molding flew off the wall as Jennie narrowly missed Jayne.  
  
"We stole some shingles." said Wash simply as Simon came racing through the bushes the pig still after him. Taking one look at the pair, Inara hopped out of her seat right as Simon cleared the porch rail, and dove in through the window. The pig never slowed down, the railing flew to pieces as it tried to barrel right into the window after the doctor.  
  
Jennie came out of the woods, her eyes spotting the backside of what she thought was one of the men, and fired. The huge animal collapsed ontp the porch with a loud thud, much to the surprise and horror of everyone present. Seeing the animal go down, Jennie held up the gun, and crowed her victory.  
  
"I GOT HIM! I GOT HIM!"  
  
"You got a pig." Jennie spun around as Marylin jerked the rifle out of her thin hands. The older woman's eyes were blue coals as she glowered at her in-law, the gun shaking as she tried to keep her temper in check.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with you? Shooting up MY house, and trying to kill MY guests?"  
  
"They stole from me!"  
  
"Paul promised me those shingles, and you damn well know it!" River who had been following behind Kaylee's aunt, stood off to the site watching the scene. Her eyes wandering back and forth between the two as they argued.  
  
"I'm not giving a damn thing to a bunch of witches! You should all burn!"  
  
"Just like your brother in the fire with the ducks?" Jennie stopped her ranting, and looked over at River who was staring at her fixedly. What Marylin Lee Frye didn't understand was that River possessed an above average IQ, as a result once she found the secret to holding on to her hard-sought silence, she already began experimenting with seperating. Her mind for once only hearing one other voice instead of dozens.  
  
"He burned in the fire with Marylin's ducks with Carl, but he wouldn't have if Carl had never called to him." Jennie's black eyes widened, her body shrinking away from River as the girl advanced a step. "You say she's a witch to cover your anger, but in truth her heart is purer than the shard of coal you carry. You wouldn't hate her so if you could just let Ned go."  
  
Marylin blinked at River while Jennie shrank away from the girl like she was a leper. The woman sputtering as River simply picked up her basket, and walked over to the porch to see about Simon who was audibly complaining from his spot on the other side of the window. Mal who had come over to see if Marylin needed help just stared at Paul's wife as she ran back through the woods, not even stopping to retrieve her precious rifle as she fled.   
  
"Something tells me River hit a nerve." said Mal as he turned to look at Marylin who was just standing with her eyebrows raised. The older woman shook her head, and started walking over to the house.  
  
"I've been persecuted for a lot of things in my life Mal, but this is a new one for me. There are over five families of Cook on Carousel, I never knew that Ned was Jennie's brother. If I had-" She stopped and instead stared at the missing chunk of molding, the shattered railing, and the dead pig denting her porch. Moved only by River who was examining it's massive tusks.  
  
"On second thought," said Marylin drily. "She's lucky I don't shoot her." 


	6. Black Pawn To Red Bishop

End Game by Proxii Bleu  
  
(Note: Sorry this took so long! Real life has been busy, and I finally just got some time to work on my fics! Thank you for all of your patience, and please enjoy the story!)  
  
VI  
  
"So what do you think of Carousel?" Simon looked up from the book he was reading, and over at Kaylee who was winding yarn around a spool. Since yesterday the pig had been hauled back to it's original farm by Paul who apologized for Jennie, and promised Marylin that she could have some of the pork. The matter of the molding however had yet to be settled, but until an arrangement could be made the rest of Kaylee's brothers were currently patching it up before any mites got inside, and started eating the untreated wood.  
  
"I think its...interesting." Simon was still bruised from his chase with the boar. The tale of his unfortunate run-in with the animal had been the cause of most of the laughter at the dinner table last night. Personally, having nearly been killed by the pig in question he hadn't thought the matter all that funny, but had smiled politely anyway.  
  
"You don't like it do you?" This time it was Kaylee's mother Hannah who spoke. Like her daughter she had a healthy frame, flame red hair, and the unique ability to read between the lines of even the most neutral of conversations. Simon hastily shook his head.  
  
"What? No, I like it just fine. It's just that-"  
  
"It's a territory world?" Both mother and daugher were staring at the doctor expecantly as they waited for an answer. On the one hand if he said that he did hate it, Simon was probably going to end up walking back to Serenity rather than sleep in the barn once they turned him out, on the other he could try the other half of the truth.  
  
"It's not an environment that I'm used to. Things are different out here." Hannah smiled, and picked up another spool, her nimble fingers easily wrapping a length of yarn around the narrow wand.  
  
"Well Simon if you're going to live out here among us Independents, you're going to have to get used to us. A man can't live between the past and future forever."  
  
"I'm not trying to do that, I'm just-"  
  
"Trying to keep hold of yourself? You don't have to change everything you are just to fit in Simon," said Hannah quetly. "All you have to do is simply adapt."  
  
"Yeah," said Kaylee as she tossed another finished spool into her mother's bag of sewing supplies. "When you first came aboard Serenity remember how you were afraid to eat with your hands?"  
  
"I wasn't afraid," said Simon thinking about the incident in question."I was just taught that a gentleman doesn't eat with his fingers."  
  
"But you learned how now didn't you?"  
  
"I don't see the point."  
  
"The point Kaylee is trying to make dear is that you're still Simon, but you've learned to take on some of the customs out here to better adjust. That sound right to you Kaylee?" Kaylee nodded, and started another spool.  
  
"Yeah, like when a tadpole becomes a frog." said Kaylee. "See when you first came out here you were a tadpole, and now you're growing into a frog." Simon smiled thinly, and set down his book. Standing up he stiffly walked down the stairs, with his back straight.  
  
"Oo, I think he's mad. Simon are you mad?"  
  
"Ribbit." Hannah just groaned as Kaylee dissolved into a mess of giggles, a wry grin on Simon's face as he headed off to see if there was something else to do around the farm to keep his attention. River was perfectly content learning about being a Healer from Marylin who was willing to let the girl pour over her books, plants, and currently watch as the older woman cooked something in a large cauldron over an open fire. He didn't know what it was, but the liquid was giving off a faint sweet odor that was reminiscient of ginger.  
  
"Hello Simon." Simon waved at his sister who was languidly stretched out on the table amongst Marylin's ingredients watching her cook the mystery liquid, her eyes rapt as she watched the woman measure out the ground herbs into the pot. Walking over, he peered at one of her books that was lying open on the table.  
  
Inside were carefully written notes, but what caught his eye was a series of dots carefully arranged into a neat hexagonal design - the diagram for the molecular structure of a drug. Frowning, he examined it's components. It was heprol, a substance that was usually administered to young children as a treatment for Settler's Lung - a disease that caused the sufferer to expereince severe couging fits that if left untreated caused permanent damage to the lining of the lungs.  
  
Marylin noticed Simon examining the book, and casually walked over to where he stood. The younger man was now peering at her through narrowed eyes, his mind turning over possibilites as he once more tried to place that feeling he had whenever he looked at the older woman. It wasn't a negative vibe he got from her, or a sinister one, but a sense of familiarity whenever he looked at her. It was as if he had known her before, but it wasn't likely since Kaylee said her aunt hadn't been off-world since before the start of the first conflicts between Independents and Alliance.  
  
That had been over twenty years ago.  
  
Simon just smiled as Marylin casually closed the book, the volume sliding away from the boy as she tried to keep him from seeing what she had written. She knew that there was no harm in River looking at her material, but Simon was another matter.  
  
He might recognize her.  
  
"See something you like?" she asked lightly. Simon shook his head, his eyes wandering from the pot, to Marylin, River, and back again.  
  
"Not really, I just wanted to see what you were doing."  
  
"Ah." Marylin shuddered inwardly. There was a change in Simon now, his emotions were hard to track, and if she didn't know any better he was supressing them. Smiling, she fought as River began prodding at her defenses. Between the two of them, the woman was almost a nervous wreck. "Well as you can see, I'm merely making a tonic for when we have spring cough."  
  
"You mean Settler's Lung?" Marylin's eyes flickered up to Simon who was still smiling neutrally.  
  
"I'm not sure what it would be called in the Alliance," Marylin passed the book over to River. "Out here we call it spring cough."  
  
"I see, well I suppose then that your tonic would make a difference. Tell me, who originally made it? I'm always curious about the origin of territory medicines, especially given the lack of information available on medicinal botany." Marylin's blue eyes narrowed as she stared at Simon. With a little more insight, he might place her. She had to curb that train of thought, and quickly.  
  
"Trial and error is how many of us Healers find the right herb combinations. Believe me Simon, out here we have to use our wits. Not everyone is blessed with the gift of precious Alliance education." Simon immediately regretted saying anything. The last thing he wanted to do was offend the older woman, and if she was insensed against him it would be almost impossible to find out more.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend. Sometimes, my curiousity can make me seem a bit rude."  
  
"Or ungainly like an elephant dancing." said River softly as she flipped through the book. Unlike her brother, she had learned everything there was to know about Marylin within seconds of meeting her. The only problem was that knowledge was locked into her mind, not because of her condition, but by choice. Marylin was not a dangerous person, and as far as River was concerned she was in more need of healing than most of her patients. Simon looked about for an exit, and spied the barn where Mal and the rest of the crew were laying shingles.  
  
What Kaylee and her mother had said was still fresh in his mind. It was obvious that he and River would probably be living out in the territories for quite some time, barring a miracle pardon from the Alliance, as a result she was right when she said that he should try to get a better understanding of Independent ways.  
  
"I think I'll see if Mal needs me."  
  
"Do that." Walking over to one of the ladders, Simon peered up for a few minutes before ascending. He wasn't very fond of heights after an accident when he was eight, and had climbed a tree in a nearby park. However, he was almost always in space aboard Serenity, and if he fell there he would literally fall forever.  
  
Once again, logic did away with any reservations or fears that had been lurking in the corners of his mind.  
  
Mal, Jayne, Marcus, and Denny were all on the roof. Wash had opted out wanting to spend some time on a nearby lake with Zoe, but what surprised him was the fact that Inara was sitting on the peak of the roof. Her pale skin perfectly shaded under a white parasol, while she watched the men work. Her sharp eyes immediately spotting the doctor as he stood watching from his spot on the ladder.  
  
"Simon, how pleasant. Would you like to come sit next to me?" Simon looked up at the mess of naked wood, boards, shingles, and bags of nails. It looked like a minefield, with hammers and various tools scattered about. Mal, Jayne, and Denny stopped working. Thier eyes glued on the doctor as he carefully chose his next words.  
  
"Um, actually I was thinking about lending a hand." Mal and Jayne burst out laughing, while Marcus and Denny tried their best to keep a straight face.  
  
"Ah no offense there Simon, but you're a doctor." Simon shrugged, and crawled up onto the roof. Having never done so before he ended up doing it the hard way, by snaking across it on his hands and knees rather than risking standing up.  
  
"True, but as I see it if River can learn to be a healer, then in theory I should be able to learn how to fix a hole in a barn roof." Mal looked over at Simon who was waiting patiently for an answer. He could tell that there was something behind the doctor's sudden interest in mingling with the men on the roof, but he really didn't have the mind for figuring it out at the moment.  
  
"Show me you can stand up, and we'll go from there." Simon's face turned white as a sheet as he looked behind him down at the ground. It was about a ten-foot drop off of the roof, and it would be even more painful if he were to fall from his position intstead of the very edge. On the other hand, he supposed that by standing up it would show that he was serious about trying his hand at roofing. Carefully he shifted himself around into a position where he could get his legs under him, and moving slowly managed to get into a half-stooping half-upright position. Seeing the look of sheer terror on the boy's face, Mal decided that was good enough.  
  
"Go and grab that red hammer over there, and that piece of quarter planking." Simon got the hammer, but looked around at the array of boards. Inara cleared her throat, and pointed to a thin piece to his left.  
  
"I believe that's it." Jayne, Mal, and Marcus looked up at the Companion who merely smiled as she twirled her parasol.  
  
"One of my clients is an architect." she explained. "He built the desk in my bedroom as a present for my birthday."  
  
"I thought he built your bed?" asked Mal as he took the wood from Simon. Inara smiled, and twirled her parasol.  
  
"Actually, made the desk as an apology for breaking my bed." Jayne arched an eyebrow, while Mal looked over at Marcus who was grinning wildy.  
  
"Quit that grinnin' before I tell your momma." Marcus adopted a sour expression that was a mirror image of his cousin Kaylee's.  
  
"Grump."  
  
***  
  
"Isn't this beautiful?" Zoe opened her eyes and looked at Wash who was lazily rowing them through Willow Lake, the deep body of water earning it's name not from the multitude of wiry trees that banked it's shore, but because about fifty years ago Willow Lee Frye the youngest of Kaylee's Great Aunt Mabel's children drowned in it while skating in the winter.  
  
A small rose bush growing on a tiny lump of earth jutting up out of the water had supposedly been planted there in memory of the little girl. Zoe looked at the delicate orange blooms as they floated past it. Butterflies dancing about the bush as they harvested it's sweet crop of pollen. Their wings shining brilliantly in the sun.  
  
"It's lovely honey." she said as he pointed them towards a small island on the south side of the lake. "Where are we going now."  
  
"Well I was thinking that we would dock over there, and have lunch."  
  
"Mmk." Zoe relaxed in the boat, her mind wandering as she thought of everything from Mal, to River, and finally the ever-present matter of coming up with a name for her unborn child. Earlier in the day Simon had been kind enough to suggest a few, but 'Vincent' for a boy and 'Winifred' for a girl were not exactly high on her list. It had to be something unique, yet not silly in that it caused more problems than it was worth. Her parents had kept it simple - Zoe, although with Wash with the name his parent's had given him it was easy to see why he kept with his nickname instead.  
  
"So whatcha thinking about?"  
  
"Names."  
  
"Oo, any good ones."  
  
"Not yet."  
  
"Hear any from Kaylee's family? With that many kids they should have some good ones."  
  
"I know 'Jennie' isn't on my list." Wash shuddered at the memories of the events from yesterday. He could still feel the talons of the chicken digging into the skin of his back. It was bad enough Jayne had gotten wind of his misfortunes. Everytime he saw the mercenray it seemed like he had a new chicken joke. Shaking his head, he returned to the matter at hand.  
  
"How about River?" Zoe's mouth turned down at the corners.  
  
"Unh-uh, that poor kid has enough on her mind. A child running about the ship with her name might cause problems."  
  
"I know what you mean, at least she hasn't rubbed soup in her hair lately." Zoe smiled slightly at the thought. When River had her bad days as a result of the memories she suffered under from her ordeal at the Academy, she was prone to doing strange things such as pouring food on herself, going semi-catatonic, or flying into fits that ranged from anger to screaming in a corner whenever someone approached her. Fortunately she hadn't done any of the above lately.  
  
"Well at any rate I'm just glad that she seems to be doing better." The shore of the lake dwindled away to a thin green bar, the dock they had lunched from invisible to them as Wash bought the small boat around into the shallows of the lake. Climbing out he floundered about in the water as he dragged the boat up a ways next to a pillar, and roped it tight. Zoe climbed out, the basket Wash had bought along in hand as her husband looked for a good spot to set up.  
  
"How about over there?" she asked pointing to a shaded spot under a tree.  
  
"Okay." Wash laid down a blanket, and sat down on it. His hand petting the ground as he waited for Zoe to join him. Smiling she eased herself down next to her husband who was looking rather energetic for some reason.  
  
"You remember the first time we went out on Silver?"  
  
"Mm-hmm." Zoe was peering in the basket at the food. There were sandwiches, small cakes, salads, meats- Wash's head was blocking her view.  
  
"Honey? Are you in there?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So, do you remember what we did that afternoon?" Wash waggled hs eyebrows at her. Zoe recalled in full detail what they had done that afternoon in the field on Silver, three times if her memory served correct. Wash's grin grew as Zoe chuckled at the thought.  
  
"Ah yes, and it's not going to happen dear."  
  
"What! Zoe come on Simon said it was okay."  
  
"I know what Simon said, but I just don't feel comfortable doing that with the baby in there."  
  
"I'm comfortable with it." Zoe just stared at him.  
  
"No."  
  
"Great, so I rowed out here for nothing." Wash immediately regretted the words ever coming out of his mouth. Zoe' smile faded, and was replaced with 'the look'. Wash did not like 'the look', when Zoe gave him 'the look' it meant that any hopes of fun in the future had gone right out the window, probably with him behind it.  
  
"You mean to tell me that all of this wasn't just to spend a nice day on shore leave? That all you bought me out here for was-"  
  
"Well I bought food too! You know, for after." Wash cringed, yep 'the look' had changed into 'the glare'. He was humped, there was no way around it.  
  
"Food and that, is all you can think about? I walk around everyday with fifteen pounds hanging off my gut, my ankles are the size of cucumbers, my back feels like it's being pulled in half, and you know what I'm thinking about?"  
  
"Aspirin?"  
  
"You! I think about you, and ways to spend time with you, but apparently the only thing you think about is eating, and THAT!"  
  
"I don't just think about those things, I think about other things such as piloting, and how much I love you and the baby, and then I think about food and that." Zoe paused. For a second Wash thought he had a reprieve, but it was just the calm before the storm.  
  
"So piloting is first on your list of priorities?"  
  
"Well when I'm thinking about other things Zoe, I'm usually piloting at the same time."  
  
"Why not think about other things when you're not piloting."  
  
"Because then I'm usually eating or doing that." Wash snickered until he was cut off by a hunk of bread flaying at his head. Grumbling Zoe got up from her seat, and marched back down to the boat. Stunned, Wash lay there for a few seconds before the sound of oars cutting water bought him to his senses. Flying off the banket he dashed for the water only to see that Zoe was well out into the lake.  
  
"ZOE! WAAAIIIITTTT! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!"  
  
"Oh really? I forgot, I was thinking about other things!" Splashing about in the shallows Wash watched her row away. Pulling off his shoes, he dove into the water and started swimming after her.  
  
"ZOE! ZOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEE!"  
  
***  
  
From the trees the binoculars watched as the couple shouted at each other from their positions in the lake. The blue hands adjusting the focus as they watched the couple slowly make their way back to shore. It was still going to be another twelve to twenty-four hours before they began Phase Two, but timing was of the essence. They couldn't afford any mistakes, there was too much to lose if they failed in their mission.  
  
***  
  
While Wash and Zoe were busy having their differences out on the lake, Simon was helping Mal lay down the last shingles on the roof. It had taken them the better part of the day to cover the hole, but now that they were almost done one could hardly tell that a cow had crashed through it. Jayne had left sometime earlier to go with Marcus to start gathering up the various members of the Frye family, while Kaylee and the rest of her kin were gathering up food in order to start cooking for the big dinner tomorrow night.  
  
Inara was still on the roof, her eyes following the movements of the men, and occassionally looking down at the ground where River was still lying on the table. The only change in her position was that she was now curled up on her side asleep. Simon fished a pair of nails out of his back pocket, and handed them to Mal.   
  
After hammering one too many nails into the wood on a bad angle, accidentally hitting Mal's hand with the hammer, and finally his own the captain had decided to put the doctor on nail duty before he hurt himself or clipped Jayne which would have resulted in the younger man being tossed off the roof.  
  
Nobody, including the doctor wanted that.  
  
"Well I think that after we get this shingle on here, this roof will officially be finished."  
  
"Congratulations." said Inara. "On a job well done."  
  
"Why thank you Ambassador," said Mal as he hammered the last nails in place. "I didn't think you noticed."  
  
"I notice everything Mal." replied Inara softly. Mal's eyes wandered up to the Companion, his mind immediately wandering to the picture he had picked up off of the floor of her shuttle. He had yet to look at it, but he couldn't help but to wonder if Inara had seen him take it.  
  
"Well that's nice." Inara smiled, and stood up from her seat. Walking carefully, she made her way down to the ladder, and gracefully exited the roof. Mal was a very paranoid man, there was something about Inara that was unsettling him as of late, mainly the fact that since she had come running back to Serenity with the hell scared out of her she had been sticking close to Reynolds. To make matters even more bizzare, she had even been keeping the insults to a minimum with a surplus of comments coming his way rather than the former.  
  
"Hey Simon, you and Inara are friends right?"  
  
"Yes, she allows me to practice my cultural skills."  
  
"That's good, but what I'm wondering is if you've noticed any change in her lately?" Simon thought for a minute as he watched the Companion walk towards the fields. Her parasol twirling as she stepped through the gate, and went to find Jayne who was waiting on the neighbor with the haycart to take him and Kaylee around to her relatives.  
  
"Well she's being nicer to you, that's a change."  
  
"I know, you don't think she...nah."  
  
"Has feelings for you?" Mal dropped a hammer, and watched it slide down off the roof, and onto the ground.  
  
"Does she Doc?" Simon shook his head emphatically.  
  
"As far as I know her private opinion of you is that you're a good man...with the culture and grace of a barbarian." Mal smiled, and let out a sigh of relief. Good, so she did still have a low opinion of him.  
  
"Why, do you like her?" Mal gaped at Simon.  
  
"What? No! I'm just wondering because she hasn't been right since that whole incident a month ago."  
  
"Ah yes, well right now I think she's just employing your protection in her own way."  
  
"Well that I can deal with. Do you-?" Simon inched his way down the roof, his slim body tense as he neared the ladder.  
  
"I don't know very much about Inara, but I know that whatever her secrets are she's still a good person." Mal nodded as he started his descent.  
  
***  
  
On the ground, just around the corner of the pen Denny Lee Frye and his little brother Ben sat watching River sleep on the table. Her purple hair was all over her head in short spikes, while her thin frame was wrapped up tight in her dress as the world passed her by. Being young, the two boys were thinking of ways to get into trouble, mainly by bothering the sleeping girl.  
  
"Think we should put a frog on her?" Denny shook his head, River was a lot of things, but she didn't seem to be the type to get upset over a frog. There was something though.  
  
"You know what I heard?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I heard Kaylee telling Mom that she's afriad of blue stuff." Ben looked over at River. His nose wrinkling as he thought about what his older brother had said. What kind of person was afraid of blue stuff?  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"I dunno, but I got an idea." Denny produced a jar of blue paint from behind his back. Smirking at his younger sibling he began creeping across the ground towards the table, his hands working the jar of the paint open as he went.  
  
***  
  
The air felt nice. Cool on her skin, like a breath of a baby. River rolled on her back, and stretched. After her nap, she felt better, less worn from trying to keep a hold of the silence. It was getting easier everytime she did it, and already she had moments where she didn't notice that she was doing it, but without the full use of her amygdala it was hard having to do it manually.  
  
Opening her eyes she looked up at the sky, and smiled. There was a shade of blue that didn't bother her. The sky had never held any bad things, just happy memories like Serenity, and Simon. Thin wisps of clouds drifted by overhead, their light forms causing her to grin uncontrollably as she reached up to trace their outlines.  
  
Oh God!  
  
River's eyes widened as she looked at her hands, and arms which were thouroughly coated with blue paint. Sitting bolt upright she looked down at the smears of blue that were streaked across her dress, and all over the table. Shrinking away from it she stared down at her hands in horror as the paint began to darken as it dried. The sensation of the hardening liquid feeling as though the blue hands themselves were clamping down on her arms.  
  
River screamed, her brother Simon dropping the tools he had in his arms, and racing over to where she stood next to the table. Terrified she stared at the hideous paint marring her, she had to get it off, it had to come off before it could get through her skin, the blue was everywhere! Looking about River panicked as she saw nothing, but wait - a knife was on the end of the table. Marylin had left it there when she had finished cutting her herbs.  
  
Grabbing it, River began trying to get rid of the blue paint. Simon almost upon her as the blade slipped and a nasty gash ran the length of her pale forearm. The knife hit the ground as River watched the red swell out of the wound, and wash over the blue. A sigh of relief escaping her lips as the hated color began to go away.  
  
Simon stopped dead in his tracks as his sister held her wounded arm out to him, a pleased smile on her face despite the pain she was feeling. Her brother's shaking as he saw all of the progress she had made slip away right before his eyes.  
  
"It's okay now Simon, I made the blue go away." Mal looked at River who had blue paint on her, her majority of it on her arms and hands. Grabbing a towel that Marylin had left behind he wrapped it around her arm, and tried to keep pressure on the cut.  
  
"Hey what did I tell you about that stuff?" River's eyes were glazing over, not from bloodloss, but because she was starting to slip into her safe place. The place where yellow flowers grew, and she could hear the ocean. Mal's voice however seemed to have a magnetic efect on her when she started to slip. The silence was still there, just waves from Mal's ocean as she sensed their throb, but not their current. That was always so frustrating.  
  
"Not to play with knives." Mal shook his head, Simon was finally back to his own senses, and yelling at Denny who had come up and been stupid enough to confess to being the one who'd covered River in the paint. Marylin had arrived on scene, and now Kaylee and her Mom were trying to keep Simon from strangling Denny. Mal distantly heard Simon scream that he was going to break the boy's neck, but for some reason he was caught up in River.  
  
"No, the other one about doing this stuff to yourself."  
  
"It's never so bad as to cause pain." Mal heard Denny scream, and then Kaylee as Simon got hold of her brother. Mal noticed that everything was seemingly in slow motion, Jayne running up from the field with Inara as a small riot broke out between Simon and the rest of the Frye's.  
  
"River what are you doing?" asked Mal. He'd looked to his left to see what the hell was going on with Simon, and saw something disturbing. He saw himself sitting on the bench next to the table holding River's injured arm, his face titled towars the girl's as she stared down into his eyes. Behind them Simon had hold of Denny by the shirt, his face contorted with rage as he tried his best to get both hands around the boy's neck, but Kaylee and Jayne were holding him. Marylin herself reaching for her nephew, but the lad was saved by his mother who got between all of them while he ran for cover.  
  
Mal looked back at River who was now sitting on a long black log. The farm had vanished entirely, replaced by a long meadow that stretched all the way down to the sandbar that served as a shore bordering a vast ocean. Shaking, Mal looked around at the alien landscape, fear settling into the very bottom of his stomach as he realized that in all likelihood he wasn't hallucinating.  
  
"River where are we?" The girl looked over at him as if he'd asked her whether or not the sky was blue. Smiling, she waved her hand over the area.  
  
"This is my ocean. I come here when it becomes to much for me out there. I was almost here, when I heard you, and I wanted to try and hold on to what was out there to be normal, but I couldn't. There was too much blue." Mal looked around.  
  
"Is this real?"  
  
"There's no such thing as reality Mal, at least not here." River picked a flower, and held it in her hands. A small orange butterfly flew out from between her fingers causing her to laugh as it fluttered away. Mal looked at the terrain, its features familiar yet- Reynolds paused, his dark eyes settling on a clump of bushes to his right. At first they didn't look very unusual, until the light struck on of the flowers showing that it was a rose made of glass.  
  
"...In my mind Mal, there is an ocean wide and blue, with roses made of crystal, and trees carved from obsidian on cliffs of red stone." Remembering what the girl had said almost two months ago, he looked behind him and saw the cliffs. They were made out of sandstone that was as red as blood, while atop them grew twisted trees with jet black trunks, and silver leaves.  
  
Cautiously he walked down to the shore, the sand beneath his feet was made out of grey pebbles that crushed down into sand with each step he took. Forcing himself, he stood atop one of the nearby rocks, and looked out over the green water.  
  
There were holes in the ocean. Deep chasms where the water bordered around them, but he could see small trickles of water flowing into them. Some were half-full, others almost the same level as the rest of the terrain, while some were just empty. Mal understood with a shudder of fear. He was in River's mind, this was the ocean that she was always talking about that represented the damage she had suffered.  
  
Frightened, he looked to his left, his eyes seeing another pice of the girl's broken reality. On the shore a short distance away from River was a duplicate of herself, standing in the meadow watching as the large sun tried to rise, but couldn't because of heavy black lines that kept it tethered to the horizon.  
  
"Who is she?" River looked over at Mal, then the duplicate. She was animate, her eyes following the salvage captain as he walked, but when he got close to her she just walked away from him. Her body fading out into almost-nothingness as his hand reached for her arm.  
  
"Oh her? She's the last gate that holds the water to the holes in the ocean." This was the fabled gate? The supposed key to her sanity and health? If that was so what was she doing there at the ocean, instead of wherever she was supposed to be.  
  
"Isn't she supposed to help you?" River looked over at 'the gate'. "From what you've said she's all you need to get better."  
  
"She is, but you wouldn't understand why I leave her alone." Mal sat down next to River. He remembered one of her more recent riddles, where she told Simon that fear kept the gate locked.  
  
"Are you afriad of her?" River shook her head.  
  
"I am afraid to become her. I am afraid that when I do, she will only go away again if the blue hands come, and take her from me." Mal looked out over at the sun. The duplicate walked forward, her arm raised as she pointed at a crack in the sun that soon disappeared. The golden orb climbing higher as it lost one of the ties that held it down. Frowning River peered at the sun, the crack re-appeared, and the duplicate walked morosely away from the shore.  
  
"You have to go now."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You have to go." Mal turned to look at the scene behind him. Simon was trying to move River, but she had a death-grip on Mal who was just staring as Kaylee tried to bring him around. He understood.  
  
"River, I just want to tell you something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You can't live in fear forever. One of these days you're going to have that other part of you finish what she's been doing, and I hope you let her do that sooner than later."  
  
"It isn't your mind Mal."  
  
"Mal?" Reynolds blinked as Kaylee gave him another good shake. Marylin was standing nearby looking apprehansive, her blue eyes wide as she watched Mal literally fall over onto the ground. His entire body felt as if he had spent the day hanging upside down, his head ringing as he tried to sit up. Simon picked up a catatonic River, and looked at Mal.  
  
"What happened?" he asked as Jayne took a cautious step back. Mal lay in Kaylee's arms. For some reason it hurt whenever he tried to focus his eyes which were currently telling him it was dark outside, even though he could feel the sun on his face.  
  
"I was talking to River." Kaylee looked over at her unresponsive friend, and then back at the captin who was just lying against her weakly. His body limp, until it tightened just enough for him to writhe feebly.  
  
"Captain, River's having a fit. She can't talk."  
  
"Yeah she can. I saw her ocean." Marylin knelt beside Mal, a small penlight appearing out of one of the pockets on her ubiquitos vest. The man's pupils were the size of dinner plates, his skin pale, and clammy.  
  
"Mal do you know where you are?" Mal shook his head. It wasn't so much that he didn't know where he was, his problem lay in the fact that he couldn't understand the question very well.  
  
"On the ground?"  
  
"Is there something wrong? Are you in pain?" Marylin's voice sounded vry far away, he just wanted to sleep.  
  
"My head hurts."  
  
"Jayne help me get him into the house, we can't let him go to sleep."  
  
"What did she do to him? He looks like he's dying!" Mal felt Kaylee grab his ankles, and Jayne's arms under his own. "She did one of those witch-things to him didn't she?"  
  
"No Jayne, she didn't hex him."  
  
"Don't tell me that ruttin' nonsense, this is a hex if I've seen one!"  
  
"I'll hex you if you don't knock it off, and carry the man!" Jayne shut his mouth, and with Kaylee managed to get Mal upstairs into his bedroom. Laying him on the bed, the old woman shooed them both out as she started mixing together a tonic.  
  
"I don't care what anyone says," growled Jayne as he left. "If she hexed him, I'll burn her at the stake myself." Marylin turned around, and looked at Jayne who was standing in the doorway of the room. She was a small woman to be sure, but there was no fear in her as she marched over to where the mercenary stood.  
  
"You harm one hair on that girl's head Jayne Cobb, and by God I'll do to you what I did to Billy Purdy. Now get out of this room, and the next time I see you which will be in five minutes you'd beter have a pot of hot water in your hands from the kitchen stove." Jayne stood there for a minute glaring at Marylin before leaving. Alone, the older woman went over to where Mal lay, and began examining him.  
  
"Great, synaptic shock, and no node-stims."  
  
"You mean these?" Marylin froze. Her slight frame turning to see Simon standing in the room holding the small devices in his hand. The Hearler chewed her lip as she realized that the boy's ability to maks his emotions gave him an advantage in the fact that she couldn't sense him. Obviously, by the look on his face this was one slip that she wasn't easily going to talk her way out of.  
  
"Yes." Carefully she took them out of his hand, and applied them to Mal's temples. Setting them at just the right frequency, she waited for them to do their job while Simon just watched.  
  
" For you to know to set them at exactly 750 hz, you must have done this before - alot."  
  
"I was in the war."  
  
"Node-stims weren't used in the Independent War, except by the Alliance." Marylin silently swore.  
  
"Look, you're an intelligent young man. Obviously I am not going to tell you a damn thing, other than what you need to know."  
  
"I think I need to know seeing as how you're the one who's been so very interested in my sister since we got here. For all I know-"  
  
"You couldn't be further from the truth." said Marylin quietly. There was something about the way she turned her head, that caused Simon to feel that same sense of familiarity full force. Her face, her eyes, even the way she wore her hair reminded him of someone, but who?  
  
"You were an Alliance doctor once weren't you?" The older woman smiled bitterly.  
  
"A long time ago, but I promise you Simon I ain't like them. Because if I were, ask youself this: Why am I clear out here in the territories?" A moan from Mal drew her attention, the node-stims apparently doing their job. Simon thought about what she said. If she were still active in the Alliance, she most likely wouldn't be living clear out in the border worlds.  
  
Not unless she was on the run like himself.  
  
"Are you really Kaylee's aunt?" Marylin gave the other doctor a flat look.  
  
"Is space black? Thought so. Please go see about your sister instead of bothering me. Mal will be fine, I promise." Simon reluctantly nodded, and stepped out into the hall. He hoped that Marylin hadn't picked up on it, but now he was more determined then ever to figure out who Marylin Lee Frye really was, and why she had been living on Carousel for the past thirty years. 


End file.
